Commentary on transportation in Connecticut and the Northeast by JIM CAMERON, for 19 years a member of the CT Rail Commuter Council.
Jim is also the founder of a new advocacy effort: www.CommuterActionGroup.org
Disclaimer: his comments are only his own. All contents of this blog are (c) Cameron Communications Inc

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December 23, 2015

Everybody
writes “year in review” stories. But
rather than dwell on the past, I’ve got the guts to predict the future! Here’s what will happen in 2016 in the
transportation world.

METRO-NORTH: Slowly
but surely, the railroad will drag itself out of the quagmire it’s been in
since the Bridgeport, Spuyten Duyvil and Valhalla crashes. On time performance will hold strong even
through the winter, thanks to the dependable new M8 cars and mild weather. Ridership
will continue to climb, causing further crowding and SRO conditions on some
trains.

STAMFORD GARAGE: After
waiting for its chosen developer (and Malloy campaign contributor) JHN Group to
sign a contract two and a half years after being tapped for the massive
TOD project, CDOT will pull the plug on its deal and replace the old garage
on its own (taxpayers’) dime.

TOLLS & TAXES: Governor
Malloy’s quest for $100 billion to pay for his 20-year transportation plan will
prove universally unpopular when his Transportation
Funding Task Force finally issues its recommendations (originally due after
Labor Day) in January. The panel will call for higher gasoline and sales taxes,
tolls, motor vehicle fees and a slew of other unpopular ideas. The legislature will react by slashing the
Governor’s unrealistic plans, reluctant to have its fingerprints of anything
the Task Force suggests.

EMINENT DOMAIN: Governor
Malloy will try again to impose state control over transit oriented
development, reintroducing his stealth bill to create a Transit
Corridor Development Agency (all of whose members he would appoint) with
the power to seize any land within a quarter mile of a rail station.

FLYING: Returning
to profitability, airlines will continue to squeeze more seats onto fewer
flights, making flying an ordeal.
Frequent flyer rewards will be harder to get as desperate passengers will
pay to ride in business or first class, leaving fewer seats for upgrades.

AMTRAK:Acela
will become increasingly popular, allowing the railroad to raise business fares. Last minute seats will be harder to get, but
the railroad will still refuse to expand service by buying new railcars. Traditional “Northeast Corridor” trains will
still be jammed as the railroad tries to compete with discount bus carriers.

HIGHWAYS: With
an improving economy and inadequate rail station parking, people will jam I-95
and the Merritt Parkway in even larger numbers, increasing commuting times
further. Gasoline prices will continue
to decline thanks to cheap oil, sending even more people to the roads.

UBER WAFFLES: State and city authorities will come down
hard on car services like Uber and Lyft, imposing on them the same regulations
and taxes now born by taxis and limos.
After “leveling the playing ground”, Uber-type services will raise
fares, passing those costs on to passengers.

Will
all of my predictions come true? Check
back in a year and we’ll see! Meantime,
happy traveling in 2016!

December 07, 2015

While
this column often is a rant about failing commuter rail service or an
occasional rave for overdue investment in our highways, when you think about
it, transportation is really an issue that affects many aspects of our lives.

JOBS: If
it wasn’t for transportation, 99% of us wouldn’t be able to get to our
jobs. It is thanks to Metro-North and
yes, even I-95, that we can live in one place and work in another. Imagine how your life would change if you
could only live within walking distance of where you work.

These towns are in a "food desert"

FOOD JUSTICE: The
East-End of Bridgeport, our state’s biggest city, is a food desert.
For 35 years there has been no supermarket, forcing residents (a third
of whom have no cars) to spend 45 minutes taking two buses just to go to the
store.

A
lack of transportation has meant fewer nutritional choices and increased risk
of obesity and diabetes.

AFFORDABLE HOUSING: Daily
commuters on our clogged highways are not masochists. The only reason they must commute is that
they cannot afford to live where their jobs are.

A
recent report showed that housing in lower FairfieldCounty is the most expensive in the
nation. You need an income of $70,000
just to afford a two bedroom apartment in the Stamford
– Norwalk
corridor.

Take,
for example, that poster-boy of affluence, Greenwich CT.
This 67 square mile city of 61,000 has 5545 town employees… teachers,
cops, firefighters and the like.
However, 67% of those workers don’t live in Greenwich,
but commute daily from Danbury, Bridgeport,
Westchester and even Long Island.

They
spend an average of 103 minutes per day just getting to and from work, paying
more than $2000 a year for gas.
Combined, they add 15,000 tons of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere, just
by their commuting.

In
a city where the median home price is $2 million, the average Greenwich city worker makes $65,000. And because these teachers, civil servants
and such have to come so far, they have to be paid more salary. The average teacher in Greenwich earns
$12,338 a year more than their counterparts elsewhere in the state.

The
Greenwich
schools spend $10,000 to $15,000 recruiting and training each new teacher. But after five years of commuting (75% of the
912 teachers don’t live in Greenwich),
they burn out, leave and find jobs elsewhere.
Between 1998 and 2007, 581 teachers left Greenwich for reasons other than retirement
and 81% of them had less than eight years on the job.

EMS
workers in Greenwich have it even worse, averaging 151 minutes (2 ½ hours!)
commute time. Just how fresh and ready
for life-saving work do you think you’d be with a commute like that?

Our
Governor is right: investing in
transportation will mean more than saving time on our daily commute. Quality transportation means better access to
jobs, to housing and food.

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More Info About Your Author

Former NBC News director and anchor, now a professional communications consultant, JIM CAMERON leads workshops on media training, speech and presentations skills and preps clients for analyst briefings and legislative testimony.
Jim served for 19 years on the CT Metro-North Rail Commuter Council, is an elected member of the Darien Representative Town Meeting (RTM) and is Program Director of Darien TV79, his town's government TV station.